“Ah? You’re finally man enough to fight me?” Li Weiqi asked.

Zhubi shrugged. He slid forward another step, taking his usual small steps.

“Stupid long-haired tight-robe-wearing freak. Are you even a man? You think you can actually—”

Zhubi’s hand snapped out again. It struck Li Weiqi in the chest, and Hui caught his breath. Shit! Did Zhubi actually—

Li Weiqi glanced down. Rather than grab him, Zhubi had grabbed his robes by the collar. “Ha! You misse—”

Spinning, Zhubi gripped Li Weiqi’s collar and threw him over his shoulder. Li Weiqi thumped into the ground, all the air leaving him in a huff. Leaves flew up from the force of his landing. Stunned, he stared at the sky.

Hui held still, careful not to make eye contact. Internally, he shook his head in deep disappointment. I’m going to have to carefully educate this son of mine. Making fun of Zhubi’s hair and choice of robes? What a fool! Doesn’t he know that those who dress oddly are likely hidden masters? The more oddly they dress, the more powerful they are! After all, you can bully a weakling into dressing like an ordinary person. But who’s going to bully the sixth-realm snake boy? Aside from my idiot son!

Though… those insults. My son had to learn them somewhere. I wonder, he and Bai Xingxue… are they being treated poorly by their fellow disciples? Especially Bai Xingxue. Their disposition is unique, and children like to tear apart unique things. Those words… I wonder if Li Weiqi has heard them hurtled at his big sibling.

Rather than jumping in and foolishly intervening right off the bat… perhaps it isn’t a bad idea to stand back and watch for a day. Gather information before I cast judgement.

But… well, some lessons are better learned early than later! Li Weiqi, it’s fine to learn insults, but it’s time you learned better than to hurl them at someone vastly above your skill level!

Li Weiqi jumped back to his feet. He scurried back, keeping an eye on Zhubi. “Now you’re finally showing your real strength, huh?”

Zhubi shook his head. He glanced up at Hui, who gave him a thumbs up, then gestured Zhubi on. Now is the time. Teach my son a firm but harmless lesson, before he comes to true harm!

Li Weiqi darted behind a nearby tree. Moving softly, he circled around to another one, then fired a Go stone at Zhubi’s back.

In the trees, Hui nodded to himself. Wise. He has the advantage at range, since Zhubi is limited to close-range attacks in this form… well, limited to close-range attacks if he isn’t attacking lethally, since I don’t doubt he’s still capable of spitting poison. But, dear son of mine, all the wisdom in the world won’t save you from a power gap this deep!

Zhubi closed his eyes. Hui expected him to listen, but instead, he knelt and pressed his palms against the ground. Confused, Hui blinked, but then nodded to himself. Snakes can’t hear very well, but they are good at sensing vibrations. Although Zhubi has human ears right now, he’s still more used to sensing vibrations than hearing things.

Zhubi’s eyes snapped open. He darted forward, appearing in front of the left side of one of the trees just as Li Weiqi jumped out from behind it. Startled, Li Weiqi jumped back, shouting in surprise. Zhubi snatched him out of the air by his collar and threw him again. Li Weiqi flew back into the center of the clearing, once again staring breathlessly at the sky.

His face wrinkled up. He slammed his fist on the ground. “Why? Why can’t I touch you? Why do you have everything? Father’s grave, strength… Do I have to beat you to have Father’s inheritance?”

Walking over, Zhubi stood over Li Weiqi. He knelt down and patted Li Weiqi’s head, then glanced up at Hui.

Hui shook his head. That’s enough for today. Li Weiqi has found his motivation, and I can rest easy in pitting him against Zhubi. I can trust that Zhubi won’t seriously hurt him, and in that he won’t be able to surpass Zhubi for some time yet. Not until he reaches sixth stage himself! He leaped from the tree, jumping into the distance.

Zhubi nodded and walked off.

“Wait! Who are you? How did you get so strong? Why—why do you have the right to enter Father’s grave?” Li Weiqi scrambled to his feet.

Empty woods stretched in all directions. The mysterious figure in white had vanished.

Li Weiqi looked at his hands, then turned toward the last place he’d seen the figure. His hands clenched into fists. I’ll beat you. I’ll beat you and prove myself worthy!

Down the peak a distance, Zhubi met up with Hui. He looked up, tilting his head.

Hui patted Zhubi’s head. “Good job, good job. You should keep sparring with Li Weiqi. He needs to focus on cultivation and actually grow stronger!”

Zhubi tilted his head, then pointed at himself.

“Eh… well, that kid… he’s too busy scamming people to take cultivation seriously. That’s fine on itself, but right now, there’s someone very dangerous after him. Someone that even you would struggle against,” Hui explained.

Zhubi’s eyes widened. He shook his head.

“No, no, I’m not expecting you to protect him! Er, I would appreciate if you did, but I know we’re both better suited to playing dead. Instead, Zhubi, can you continue to challenge him like you did today? I think, for that kid, what he needs the most is a rival. And that’s what you can provide!” Hui said, nodding happily.

Sighing, Zhubi shook his head.

“You don’t want to?” Hui asked.

Zhubi hesitated, then patted Hui’s hand. He nodded.

“You’ll do it? Thank you, Zhubi,” Hui said. He grabbed Zhubi’s hands. “You’re the one who led me on the first steps toward death faking. Now, I’m trusting you to teach my son! Teach him to grow stronger, and teach him to run away quickly when he faces dangerous opponents, not stand and scream at them like an idiot!”

Zhubi nodded. His hands were flat in Hui’s, and he seemed somewhat lost with what to do with them.

“Of course, I’ll help, too. It’s just… I’m still dead. I can’t be here all the time,” Hui murmured quietly.

Footsteps crashed through the woods toward them. Zhubi and Hui both looked up. A white-haired girl pushed past the trees and jolted to a halt. “Eh? Who are—”

The two figures vanished. Bai Xingxue blinked. She looked around, then frowned and rubbed her eyes. “Was I seeing things…?”

Up in the trees, Hui held Zhubi, peering down over his shoulder at Bai Xingxue. Phew. She almost saw us together! That would’ve been bad. I probably shouldn’t let my children know that the ‘demonic cultivator’ and Li Weiqi’s mysterious rival are colluding.

Or… eh, wait. I’m not in my demonic cultivator disguise right now! So there was no reason to hide!

Hui sighed deeply at himself. He shook his head. I can be a little silly sometimes, huh?

In any case… I don’t want to meet my children as myself yet. I don’t want to cause them more pain when I have to ‘die’ again and return to the Underworld. It’s better that I keep it a secret for now, and only reveal myself after I can be with them all the time.

Though… actually, do I have to hide for that…? It’s not like they know what I look like.

Reflecting on his choices, Hui sighed and shook his head. I’ve made some interesting decisions lately. Oh well. I might as well stick to them. After all, it’s not like someone couldn’t have shown my children a portrait of me.

The branch behind him creaked. A hand closed around Hui’s collar. Startled, Zhubi returned to snake form and whirled into Hui’s sleeve.

“Who is this, creeping through the woods around my precious child…?” a low voice whispered in Hui’s ear.

Hui laughed lightly. He glanced over his shoulder and looked up at Bai Xue. Dark hair fell over the man’s shoulders. Red eyes narrowed, then widened. “Xi… Xiao Hui?”

“Long time no see, Elder Brother!” Hui said, grinning.